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Launch Dates Announced for Guild Wars

NCSoft and ArenaNet's massively multiplayer game to go live April 28th in North America and Europe.

NCSoft announced a release date today for Guild Wars, the massively multiplayer title being created by ArenaNet, an MMO developer founded by several staffers who worked on Blizzard's Battle.net system. According to the NCSoft press release, Guild Wars will launch simultaneously in North America and Europe on April 28th. Players who purchase the preorder package, however, will get early access to the game on April 27th.

Guild Wars is a fantasy-based MMO that hopes to set itself apart in the hotly contested MMO space by virtue of its unique financial model. Unlike most MMO's, Guild Wars will have no monthly access fees. Instead, purchasing the original title will give players access to the entire game world. Every six months or so thereafter, the developers plan on releasing an optional expansion pack. While purchasing the pack isn't mandatory, the packs will open up new areas of the world as well as giving players new skills, abilities, and access to new missions.

The company is also offering players who preorder access to the last three "Beta Weekend" events that will be run prior to launch. The Beta Weekends culminate a series of limited-time public preview events that NCSoft hopes will get players interested enough to purchase it come launch. Previous events included a public E3 demo and a similar event for Halloween. The final events are perhaps the most interesting, as they act as a "prequel" of sorts for the game. The events, which take place on February 18-20, March 18-20, and April 15-27, 2005, will allow players to explore sections of the world before they are blighted by world-shattering events when the game begins.